On Our Way
by TheBetterPoison
Summary: Sorry for any errors & that the gaps to show the passages of time didn't transfer on here before I published it! This is an alteration & extension of Glee's winter finale episode "On My Way". I've included a lot of my favorite ship, Samcedes. Enjoy!
1. Part 1

Everyone was riding on a natural high from their Regionals' victory. For Rachel and Finn, they couldn't have asked for a better prelude to their nuptials. After the New Directions' excitement became containable, everyone began making their way to the Justice of the Peace. Finn and Sam caught a ride with the Hudson-Hummel couple while Rachel left with her dads; Mike, Tina, Blaine, Puck and Artie carpooled; Santana drove Brittany, Kurt drove himself—knowing he had a stop to make along the way—and Sugar insisted that Rory accept a ride from her dad. Mercedes caught a ride in Quinn's cherry red Beetle earlier, and planned to go with Santana and Brittany to the wedding. However, after finding out that Quinn would be coming to the wedding after all, Mercedes gladly remained co-pilot for the Volkswagon.

While everyone departed to their respective vehicles, Mercedes emerged from the choir room, looking down the hallways with a quizzical expression. "Quinn?" Her heels click-clacked as she wandered down the desolate halls, clutching a blue-striped jacket, and wondering where her friend was. Just as she was about to take out her phone and call her, Quinn appeared from the girls' bathroom, clad in her performance dress as well and carrying a large box under her arms. Mercedes noted her glowing face and wide smile and was unable to help smiling too as she asked, "What is it?"

Standing beside her friend now, Quinn looped an arm around Mercedes shoulder while they started towards the nearest exit, "Coach Sylvester gave me my Cheerios uniform back."

Eyes wide, Mercedes regarded her with an even more pleased expression, "Oh my God. So does this mean you're back on the Cheerios?"

Quinn nodded several silent, ecstatic nods, to which she was seized in a tight congratulatory hug.

"Mercedes, I can't even begin to tell you…this has been the best day I've had since I found out about Yale."

"Girl, after everything you've been through, I believe it!" She loosened her hold on the blonde and held her at the shoulders with her eyes gazing up at her. "You deserve to be back on that squad."

A soft laugh escaped Quinn's lips, but she promptly said, "Come on. We better hurry up if we're gonna get to Finn and Rachel's wedding on time."

"True," replied Mercedes. The two then prattled on about Regionals—talking about the Warblers' performance and their own. Mercedes started to mention how she had wished Quinn could have performed with the Trouble Tones as they made their way to the Beetle. Somehow, during their drive though, they ended up talking about Finn and Rachel's engagement again.

"…And I know you weren't crazy about them getting married when they told us all. I'm still a little iffy on it, but they're happy together so I think it's important we're supporting our friends."

"I know," said Quinn as she gazed out of the windshield. "Rachel and I talked about it before she left."

"Plus," Mercedes added, "She had a point last week. It would've been a shame for you skip out on a chance to rock a bridesmaids dress."

Quinn's cheeks rose with an agreeing smile, but it vanished quicker than it had appeared. "Oh crap. Crap, crap, _crap_!"

"What?" asked Mercedes.

"I have to turn around. Crap—I forgot my bridesmaids dress at home. Ugh, I don't believe this!"

Mercedes bent down to rifle through her bag on the floor between her ankles. She took out her phone to check the time, "It's okay. The ceremony's not til 5. I think we can make it with plenty of time."

"We better, or Rachel might try to verbally assault us," Quinn said in a half-joking tone.

As Quinn twisted the steering wheel to make a U-turn, she groped around the cup holders for her cell phone. Her eyes flickered back and forth between the phone screen and her windshield. "You have your dress, right 'Cedes?"

"Yeah it's in the back seat with my shoes." Mercedes served as a second pair of eyes on the road while Quinn sent a text to Rachel: "_Ran home to get my bridesmaid dress. Be there soon._"

Eventually the two made their way to the home where she and the former Mrs. Fabray lived. By the time they had arrived, Mercedes suggested that they just change there instead of waiting until they arrived. She gathered up her things from the back seat of the Bug and quickly followed Quinn through the front door. The house was quiet upon entry—a note was sitting on Quinn's bed in her mom's handwriting, telling her she had gone out to dinner for the night and would be back late. Quinn only glanced at it long enough to process what was written before Mercedes reminded her, "We gotta hurry, Quinn!"

* * *

><p>The Hudson-Hummel vehicle parked in the nearest vacant spot. The entire way, Burt and Carole were doing their best to keep Finn's nerves in check by telling him and Sam what a great job The New Directions had done. Upon arriving at the courthouse, Burt and Carole got out of the car. "We'll go let the Justice of the Peace know you guys are here," said Burt.<p>

Sam looked to his team mate and pursed his lips in a faint smile. He clapped a hand to Finn's shoulder, "You alright man?"

Finn nodded, wearing a mix of excitement and anxiety on his face. "Y-yeah, man," he replied.

Sam chuckled one time and shook Finn, "Come on, we still gotta get changed."

"Right," said Finn. They both un-hooked their suits from the handles above their windows, got out and followed after Burt and Carole. Soon after, the rest of the glee club had trickled in and two courthouse employees showed the guys and the girls where they could get ready at. Sam and Finn led the pack of men to the left while the girls smuggled Rachel away to the right, doing their best to keep Finn from seeing her anymore. As they giggled and chattered their way down the hall, Sam looked back and paused. His dark blonde brows came together, "Hey, where are Mercedes and Quinn?"

A few of the guys muttered, "I dunno," while the others said nothing at all. His lips pressed together and he swallowed hard, but turned back to keep following the rest of the guys. It wasn't like Mercedes to be late for anything—especially for important events. He knew she had gone with Quinn, but they were both punctual people. When he and the rest of the guys were shown into an empty room however, he shook away the concerns that were starting to plague his mind. It helped to remind himself that she and Quinn weren't _technically_ late to begin with. Instead, he tuned into the friendly heckling the rest of the guys were giving Finn.

Puck cast a brooding smile while telling Finn that he was about to be ball and chained, and was still able to make himself a free man before it was too late. The others grinned and snickered while they all changed out of their black and gold Regionals garb. More of the teasing and random conversation carried on, but it hadn't served as a stable enough distraction for Sam. He was in the midst of buttoning up his white dress shirt when his mind conjured up a few irrational "What if?"s for Mercedes and Quinn's mysterious whereabouts. In the back of his mind, he knew it was stupid to think anything bad had happened to them. Why would it? And for all he knew, Mercedes and Quinn could have entered the courthouse right after he and the guys had rounded the corner. _Yeah, they were probably just making sure none of us had left anything at the school before leaving, _he thought. _We all did rush off after winning Regionals. And with all the excitement of winning, somebody probably _did _leave something behind. Mercedes is a really responsible person; she would want to look out for the others, and since we were all officially on Spring Break now, it'd suck to have something left at school for a week_.

"_Sam!_" Mike nearly shouted.

"Huh? What?" Sam said, jerking his head up.

"Dude, where were you just now?" Puck asked, staring at Sam as if he'd grown a third eye." We were asking if you were gonna go back to Kentucky for Spring Break."

"Don't tell me all the wedding buzz is getting _you_ thinking…" Blaine teased with a kind smile.

"Because if you are, I'm all-too prepared to give you the same spiel I gave Finn and Rachel," Kurt shamelessly admitted, folding his arms as if to emphasize his point. He felt Finn's eyes fall on him but ignored it, "I love Mercedes to pieces but—"

Sam shook his head and interjected, "No, no that's not it. Besides Kurt, we're not together and you know that. But yeah I'm gonna spend half my break here and half back in Kentucky."

"Oh. Good," Kurt briskly responded. "Well I for one am looking forward to having the next week off. It's been so intense this past week…"

The conversation carried on about the room, but Sam hadn't re-joined it. Instead, he dug in the pocket of his performance slacks and pulled out his cell phone. Since Valentine's Day, he and Mercedes were giving themselves distance from each other outside of school, but he couldn't help being concerned and wanted to know that she was in fact on the other side of the courthouse getting ready with the rest of the girls. His long, nimble fingers moved across the keypad of his phone. "_Hey, you and Quinn are here, right?" _After finding Mercedes' name in his list of contacts, he hit 'Send' and slipped his phone into the pocket of the dress pants he was currently wearing.

It wasn't terribly difficult for him to appear interested in the talk about the room, but inside, he was anxiously awaiting a response from Mercedes. Only two minutes after he'd text her, did his phone buzz in his pocket. He took it out and read, "_Not yet. Quinn forgot her dress. Getting ready to leave her place now_."

A fair amount of relief washed over him, flooding the top of his head, right down to his shoes. He text her back, "_Ok. Drive safe._"

A few minutes later, she text back, "_I'll tell Quinn._"

Meanwhile, in a room in the courthouse, opposite the boys, all of the girls were clad in identical salmon pink dresses, with the exception of Rachel. Brittany was standing behind her, fixing her hair to accommodate her veil while Tina put some final touches on her make-up. Quinn and Mercedes still hadn't shown up and it felt like they were taking a millennium to arrive.

Rachel took her phone out when Tina allowed her and re-read her text from Quinn, and then she finally text her back, "HURRY!" The time at the corner of Rachel's iPhone read 4:40 which made her anxiety flare. Two of her best friends weren't here and she and Finn were schedule to exchange their vows in twenty minutes. As she lowered her phone back into her lap, Tina instructed Rachel to pucker her lips so she could add blush to her cheeks. Rachel did so while three friendly knocks rapped on the door.

Sugar stood and flitted to the door to answer while announcing, "I'll get it!". On the other side were Kurt and Blaine, fully clad in their identical suits and yellow boutonnieres. Sugar hugged them both and let them in; Blaine went over to greet the bride, "Rachel you look stunning."

Their star performer grinned as Kurt chimed in, "Yes, I think we made the right choice." He smiled at her but was quick to note the absence of his other best friend. "Wait, where's Mercedes? I thought she was doing your hair."

"Yeah and where's Quinn?" added Blaine, looking around the room.

"They're not here yet," Santana answered in her usually blunt fashion.

"Kurt can you call Mercedes and see where they're at?" Rachel nearly begged as her veil was being situated. She was more than ecstatic about marrying Finn but it had always been so important to her that both her family and her friends were there to share the moment with them.

Kurt had wandered to a corner in the room, pacing slowly with his phone to his ear. "Where_ are_ you?" he asked when Mercedes picked up.

Finally able to turn her head, Rachel looked to him, only hearing his half of the brief conversation.

"Fifteen minutes, Mercedes…yes I know but it's taken care of…okay good…uh-huh, bye." Once the call ended he said, "Mercedes and Quinn are coming. They ran into some heavy traffic on the main streets so they're taking a back road. She said sorry about the hair, and that they'd be here in 10."

"Okay. It's okay, as long as they get here," Rachel gave an answering smile and stood. "I'll be right back."

* * *

><p>"Can you believe that?" Mercedes commented with a shake of her head.<p>

"I know, right?" Quinn said. "Of all the days when it'd be so much easier…"

"People must've still been leaving the school or something."

Neither of them really cared what the cause of the traffic was however. They both knew the alternative route and were thankful for the minimal traffic. Mercedes kept track of the time while Quinn drove. A few times, she set her phone back in her bag, flipped the passenger mirror down and checked to make sure her hair still looked alright from the competition. It did.

"Mercedes you look fine," the blonde affirmed with an amused smile.

"I know, but I just wanted to make sure—"

"Sam would notice?" Quinn finished.

Mercedes pursed her lips for a moment while giving Quinn a sideways glance. Her cheeks burned but she scoffed aloud, "Please."

"Oh come on, Mercedes. Can you honestly tell me that you don't wanna look good for him still?"

"I've never gone out of my way to look good for anyone, any more than I usually do."

Quinn smirked, "So is that a 'no' or a 'yes'?"

Silence filled the car for a few seconds before Mercedes finally answered, "Remember when I told you on the phone a few weeks ago that I'd kissed Sam? Well I told him at school on Valentine's Day that I still love him but I can't be with him right now. I need to be single for a while to figure out who I am so I don't ever hurt him the way I'd hurt Shane, or worse."

"But 'Cedes, you would never do that to hi—"

"That's what he said to me too. And I told him I didn't think I'd ever do that to Shane, but I did. I'm just not sure of myself right now."

They were stuck behind a tractor for a moment; Quinn contemplated going around, but luckily it was turning at the approaching intersection. After being aware of this, she cast a comprehensive gaze at Mercedes and then said, "I can respect that. And understand it. Being single for a while now has helped give me a pretty clear head on who I am, what I want, and what I need to focus on. And don't think that I'm putting pressure on you, but I hope that you'll find yourself in a good enough place to be with Sam soon."

Mercedes turned her head towards her friend, looking taken aback, but Quinn went on. "I see the way he looks at you when you sing songs in Glee club or lead meetings with the God Squad. I see how he steals glances at you whenever he can. And I know it's hard for him to be respectful of your wishes to be single right now, even though he _really_ loves you and wants to be with you. You and Sam deserve each other—that much is clear to me. In time, I really hope you two will have each other."

Mercedes couldn't look at her anymore. She felt herself wanting to cry, but much to her own relief, no tears were forming in her eyes. Everything Quinn was saying meant a lot to her—more than she could verbalize. Unable to form much to say, she whispered, "I hope so too."

Quinn rested her hand on Mercedes' arm in a consoling manner, triggering a grateful smile on the curvaceous girl's face. "Time check?" Quinn asked, subtly intent on changing the subject for her friend's sake.

"Um…" Mercedes picked her phone up from her bag but she was distracted from seeing what time it was. "Oh, I have a missed call."

"Is it Kurt again?"

Mercedes pinched her lips together tightly and then said, "No, it's from Sam."

"What time is it?"

"4:54. I'll call him back. Rachel's probably gonna have everyone on our case in a minute, but we're not even far anymore."

"Better call back before your phone blows up with calls," Quinn suggested.

Already holding her phone to her ear, Mercedes nodded agreeably. As she waited for Sam to pick up, she glanced at Quinn, who gave her an assuring smile. In the length of two rings, Sam had picked up the phone, "Hey, we're like…two minutes away. We had to take the back roads."

As Mercedes exchanged a few more words with Sam, Quinn's phone buzzed once in the cup holder. She sighed, "Here we go…"

Mercedes rolled her eyes but smiled at her while she carried on her conversation.

Quinn glanced down to read Rachel's text, "WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?"

"Yeah I can just picture it, but we can't get there any faster. Do you have any chill pills you can give her?"

Eyes flickering back and forth between the road and the phone, Quinn formed the text, "ON OUR WAY"

Mercedes laughed, "Seriously though, if they have to start without us, then they sh—"

She gasped.

A loud horn assaulted their ears.

"QUINN—!"

* * *

><p>"Face it! She's not coming, and Mercedes probably couldn't talk her out of it" Santana abrasively stated.<p>

"_They're coming_," Rachel insisted though her voice was riddled with the same anxiety it had fifteen minutes ago.

Only seconds afterward, Finn came bursting into the room with their parents and the groom's. "Rachel we gotta get going."

At that moment, Sam's phone buzzed in his pocket while 'Human Nature' quietly rang. He hastened to retrieve it while all eyes fell on him for a brief moment.

"Finn get out!" Sugar cried "You're not supposed to see the bride before the wedding!"

Finn held his hands up in surrender, "I've already seen her."

"But that's bad luck," noted Tina.

"It's okay you guys," Rachel appeased before turning to her fiancé. "Finn couldn't we wait just a little longer for Quinn and Mercedes?"

"It's now or never," replied Finn.

Only taking seconds to think it over, Rachel turned from Finn to retrieve her phone. She slid her finger across the screen and immediately went to texting Quinn again. As she pressed 'send', she could hear Sam speaking lowly on the opposite side of the room.

Sam chuckled, "I wish but I'm fresh out. I'll let them know you guys are close, but I know they don't wanna lose their spot."

Gradually the other Glee club members were watching him again. They all had picked up on the fact that Mercedes was on the other end of the line. Rachel and Finn looked relieved that their friends were close, according to Sam's half of their conversation. But confusion fell on all of their faces as they watched Sam's face change almost instantly.

He heard Mercedes gasp. He heard the horn honk. He heard her shout Quinn's name. And he heard the solid, unmistakable crashing sound rapidly follow.

His plump red lips slackened while his green eyes bulged. "Mercedes?" He looked at the phone to see that the call hadn't dropped. It hadn't. "Mercedes?" The panic shot through his veins, and without any regard to anyone else, he immediately turned around and bolted from the room, ignoring the voices calling after him.

"Mercedes!" he shouted, still clutching the phone to his ear.

Sitting in the hallway of the Justice of the Peace was Mr. Schuester and Coach Sylvester. Both of them looked at Sam with their own forms of concern. Mr. Schue stood up, "Sam what's wrong?"

Sam wasn't answering anyone as he thundered back down the hallway. His expression was hardening as he grew determined to get an answer from Mercedes, though none had come.

"Sam!" Mr. Schue tried again. He caught up with Sam in no time and seized him at the shoulders. "Sam _what_ _happened_?"

Fighting the urge to shove his teacher away, his chest rose and fell at an abnormal pace while he glared, "They crashed. They crashed—we have to _go_!"

"Who crashed?" asked Sue.

"Mercedes and Quinn!" Sam shouted, unable to express his fear in any other way than what they were receiving.

"Oh God," Rachel breathed somewhere behind him. Puck spat an expletive while the others either gasped or stood in silence.

"Are you absolutely sure?" Sue asked with complete severity.

"I HEARD IT!" Sam yelled, finally jerking his shoulders free from Mr. Schue. His eyes were reddening but he was determined to not let tears betray him when he desperately needed to see the numbers he was now dialing.

Behind him he heard Sugar wail the only sensible thing he'd heard yet, "Someone call 9-1-1!" while everyone else was trying to decide what to do or say.

As Sam held the phone back to his ear, Mr. Schue ushered him the rest of the way down the hallway while he said, "Come on."

"I'm coming with you," Puck declared, clearly upset as well.

Sam spoke shakily to the dispatcher; he forced himself to keep his voice low to prevent any more sounds of terror from escaping his lips. It was a difficult battle against his mind to try and recall where Mercedes said they were. The dispatcher spoke calmly to him the entire time as he tried to tell her about his conversation prior to the crash.

"Mr. Schue, their family," Puck said from the back seat, without looking at anyone or anything in particular as he whispered to himself, "Beth…"

Their teacher glanced at Puck from the rearview mirror and then back to the road. "I know…"

From a distance behind, Puck and Mr. Schue saw Mike's Camry with Coach Sylvester's Expedition following. Ahead of them, the three men saw smoke billowing up from the grassy Lima back roads, telling them exactly where to go. Mr Schue exchanged wary glances with his two students, "Guys we don't know what we're gonna see, so…just…brace yourselves."

Unfortunately there weren't words for the scene they arrived at. Quinn's compact Bug was wrapped around the grill of a bulky pick-up truck. Both front tires of the Bug were blown out and warped from the impact, while the driver of the truck laid leaning against their deployed airbag. Mr. Schue stopped his car a safe distance from the accident; Sam and Puck were out of their teacher's car in no time, running toward the Bug.

"Don't move them, guys!" Mr. Schue shouted, following after them.

"What do you mean 'don't move them'!" Puck shouted back.

"You could make it worse, Puck! Wait 'til the EMTs get here!"

None of them were able to get to the driver's side and the front windshield was shattered entirely into thousands of shards. Their only apparent means of getting into the car was through the passenger's side. Sam was there first, and saw the passenger window glass buckled to Mercedes' head. Because of the breaks in the glass, the right side of her face was concealed to him, but he could see her right arm pinned awkwardly between her side and the door. Beyond her, he glanced at Quinn who had visibly suffered the most from the accident. With the entire driver's side concaved, it would have taken a miracle for her to have been unscathed by it all. Despite having her seatbelt on, she had been thrown across Mercedes' lap from the torso up, with blood staining the left half of her dress. Her left hip was pinched into the vehicle and her legs invisible from where Sam was gazing. Both girls were marred with cuts—some, more unsettling to look at than others.

Sam's heart beat hard in his chest and ears as his right hand gripped the handle. He clenched his left hand in a fist over the rear passenger window; it took everything in him not yank the door open and pull both girls out.

Puck approached soon after and started shouting at the broken windows, "QUINN! MERCEDES!"

Neither girl stirred.

"Mr. Schue we need to get 'em out!" he insisted.

"No!" a clearly unnerved Will Schuester answered as he approached. "We can't do anything helpful until the EMTs get here."

He looked to Sam who had gone completely white and still. His right hand was still gripping the door handle tightly—his heart was still pulsing loudly in his ears and his eyes remained fixed on Mercedes. She couldn't be gone. Not like this. He refused to believe it possible. And part of him knew it was selfish to think of her more than Quinn but in that moment, he didn't care.

The definition of Mercedes' still form was dissolving before his eyes as tears overcame him. He squeezed both lids shut and lowered his head against the cracked glass, nearly oblivious to the approaching sirens or his friends who reached the accident site and were expressing varying forms of hysterics.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion then, though the reality was that the paramedics' actions were swift. Sam had to be ushered away by both Puck and Mr. Schue while the EMTs and firefighters worked together to remove all three victims from the cars safely. Someone—he didn't know who—mentioned calling Quinn and Mercedes' parents. He didn't know who was going to do it, but somewhere in his mind, he'd hoped that someone would be able to reach the Fabrays and the Jones'.

Unfortunately he was repeatedly held back as they pulled Mercedes out and lay her on, what would later rise as a stretcher. Under the warmth of the early evening sun, she wore a distressed look on her face and breathed shallowly, but was still unconscious while the paramedics multi-tasked. Their hands moved about her body, examining her injuries while calmly going through careful procedures to wake her. Another group of EMTs and firefighters were still trying to safely remove Quinn from her mangled car, and the driver of the truck had come to in a matter of minutes, following help's arrival.

When Mercedes didn't respond to anything the paramedics tried, they placed a brace around her neck to station her head and moved quickly to get her into one of the multiple ambulances that had shown up.

"I'm going with her," Sam said to no one in particular as he snatched her bag and cell phone from the car. Although the EMTs questioned his relationship with her, they hadn't stopped him from being by her side for the ride to the hospital.

The stretcher was lifted up so that Mercedes was now lying level to Sam's waist. He took hold of her hand and squeezed as one of the medics held an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth. "Mercedes…"

He let go of her hand only long enough for them to slid her stretcher into the ambulance; after following inside, he glanced away from her only once. His eyes swept over the scene of the cars for the last time, and then he saw his fellow Glee club members, scattered a short distance away. All of them looked out of place in their formalwear, but they all were holding onto somebody, with the exception of Puck, Coach Sylvester, and Mr. Schue. He saw Mike make eye contact with him before he called out, "We'll be there soon dude!"

Sam nodded once and then looked back to his love as the ambulance doors closed them in.

* * *

><p>The medics exchanged words that Sam only half understood during the entirety of the ride to the hospital but their terms weren't his main focus. He resumed holding Mercedes' left hand—his thumb rubbing circles over her knuckles while his sage hues studied her face more carefully than before. He couldn't bring himself to stare long at the rest of her and maintain some composure, due to the terrible injuries that marred her dress, legs and right arm.<p>

While seated on her left side, Sam noticed _everything_. Her once loose, black curls she'd worn for Regionals were now disheveled, but he caught something silver glimmering at her ears. Sam cocked his head slightly to see a heart-shaped earring hanging below her left lobe. He recognized the accessory—mainly because he had given the pair to her last summer, but also because she had worn them so frequently to school.

Behind the oxygen mask, he saw a tiny cut across her button nose; another one similar to it was below her left cheek. He saw one of the female EMTs replacing some gauze for an alarming amount of blood along the right side of Mercedes' face that made Sam's stomach lurch. An indescribable fear conquered his insides then; all he could do was hold tightly to her hand and quietly plead, "Please open your eyes 'Cedes."

"She your girlfriend?" One of the male medics asked.

Sam's head inclined toward the other male but his eyes stayed on Mercedes. To his own dismay he muttered, "Not exactly…"

"Oh. Friends?"

"We're close," he admitted, bringing the conversation to a quick end. There was clearly no interest in making small talk with him. Instead, he brought his full attention back to Mercedes where it belonged.

At one point, her eyes fluttered, but never fully opened. It was a good sign in Sam's eyes, and internally he tried not to get over-excited about it, but it was impossible. It was enough to fight off some of the fear that attempted to best him until they arrived at the hospital. As the paramedics pulled the stretcher out of the vehicle's rear, they were met by a doctor and a small number of nurses. Sam rushed to follow them and heard one of the paramedics inform the hospital staff that two more people were on their way; one was another girl in worse shape than Mercedes. From there, the exchange of words while boarding the elevator resumed to a slew of medical terminology, but Sam caught, "breaks in the right arm", and "head trauma" intermingled with everything else that was being said.

"What's her name?" the doctor asked as they wheeled her down a wide corridor.

"Mercedes Jones," Sam answered before anyone else could.

All eyes momentarily fell on him, but the doctor promptly thanked him and looked back to Mercedes while he waved a small flashlight back and forth across her lidded eyes. Sam's chest constricted when she didn't respond to the light. Without being aware of it, he was huffing short breaths again as if he had just run a marathon. He was about to ask if she was going to be okay when one of the nurses claimed his arm and held him back in the same instant that the doctor and small team of nurses wheeled Mercedes' gurney through a set of doors.

The nurse was met with resistance by Sam, but she spoke firmly to gain his attention. "I'm sorry but you can't be with her right now. You need to wait here."

"But—"

"I'm sorry," she asserted, "but without the patient's consent, only kin and spouses are allowed beyond this point. You'll have to wait here."

Sam swallowed hard and quit fighting the nurse. His shoulders fell hopelessly as he nodded. He carried himself and Mercedes' things toward the waiting room while combing a set of fingers through his sandy blonde roots. Helpless and alone, Sam sank into a vacant chair; his eyes fell on the bag in his hand. Again, part of him hoped that hers and Quinn's parents had been called. He didn't know how to form the words, but if they hadn't been called, he needed them to know.

As he plucked Mercedes' iPhone from the top, he recognized the light blue and white-striped cotton jacket stuffed inside. It didn't even register until that moment that he'd left it behind after the competition. And the fact that Mercedes was just as thorough as he knew her to be only made his mind become drunk on more concern for the girl he loved. With his elbow rested on his thigh, Sam clutched the jacket and lowered his face into the material. Words abandoned him—he couldn't call anyone. All he could think to do right then was pray.

Keeping his head bowed, he thought up the one of the most informal prayers of his life. Sure, Mercedes didn't seem to be in that bad of a condition, but he wasn't dumb. As much as he didn't want to think it, he knew whatever "head trauma" she suffered could take a turn for the worse. And there was no way he could forget how terrible Quinn looked. He prayed fiercely that they would both make it and be okay. That's all he could keep begging in his mind, again and again. The more he prayed these desires, the harder it became to hold himself together. Behind the cotton cloth, he squeezed his eyes shut, but it wasn't enough to keep tears from escaping. He kept repeating his hopes while the moisture was absorbed into the fabric.

No sooner had he mouthed, "Amen," in his jacket did the elevator doors 'ding', filling long hallway with more fast buzzing of medical terminology. Sam raised his head and turned his torso to see a blurred team of new doctors guiding another gurney in his direction. He rose from the seat while trying to clear his vision and stood at the edge of the waiting room as they neared and quickly passed by.

It was true; Quinn looked horrendous and suffered much more from the impact. It was evident on the parts of her body that he'd glimpse then and it was clear in the greater amount of urgency in the physicians' voices. Puck had come with her, but he'd been stopped at the double doors just as Sam had been. He began to put up a bit more resistance than Sam had, even letting it slip that she was the mother of his kid. As Sam went to try and calm Puck down enough to stop fighting the nurse however, the nurse permitted him through the doors.

It almost felt like a kick in the chest as Sam stood dumbfounded, though it didn't take long for him to put the pieces together. Sure it was true, she was Beth's mom but they'd given her up for adoption; neither of them had any legal right to her. But Sam knew Puck was persuasive and would do whatever he had to in order to get what he wanted. Chances were, he didn't want Quinn in there alone, no matter what their relationship now was, or wasn't.

_Good. Quinn wouldn't be by herself. But what about Mercedes?_ He thought angrily.

Turning back to the waiting room, Sam sucked in a jagged breath and let it out fully. He picked up Mercedes' phone again, went through the contacts until he found "Mom" and made the call.

* * *

><p>Mercedes' mom wasn't far when Sam called. She had already been contacted by Mr. Schuester, who arrived at the hospital shortly after Quinn's ambulance brought her in. Ms. Jones arrived twenty minutes after Sam's call. Ms. Jones had obviously cried a great deal prior to arriving, but it ceased by the time she'd joined Sam in the waiting room. She was well-aware of the relationship her daughter once had with Sam, and was thankful to him when she found out he rode with her to the hospital. After speaking with a doctor, Ms. Jones hugged Sam tightly as if he were her own son.<p>

Quinn's mother, Judy, arrived just ahead of Mercedes' mom, and her father, not long after her. In under an hour's time, the entire waiting room was filled with the Glee club, Coach Sylvester, The Berry parents and the Hudson-Hummel parents. Hiram and LeRoy—the last to arrive—brought the would-be reception refreshments from their car, doing their best to rid it of the festive appeal it once held. Most of it, however, had not been touched with everyone being too upset or worried to eat.

The desire to converse came and went frequently. Ms. Jones and the Frabrays wanted to know how their daughters ended up in the wreck. A tearful Rachel and a shaken Sam both tried to help put the pieces together. Silence filled the space after they finished explaining, but it didn't last. Tensions soon flared when Quinn's father almost immediately placed the blame on Rachel for bothering Quinn with so many text messages. He also made an attempt to accuse Sam of distracting Mercedes when she could have been watching the road as well, but his accusations were quickly squashed. Ms. Jones stuck up fiercely against faulting her daughter, Sam and Rachel, alongside Rachel's now vehement fathers, Finn, Burt, Carole and even Mr. Schue.

When the dust settled, the former Mrs. Fabray stepped up to her husband and, in as even a tone as she could manage said, "That's just like you, isn't it? Blame everyone else for everything that goes wrong." Mr. Fabray said nothing, and without giving him much more of an opportunity to, his ex-wife added, "It was an _accident_, Russell. An accident. And if you hadn't noticed, Quinn isn't the only one that's suffering from it." As if to emphasize her point, she jutted her hand out, gesturing it around the room to all of the morose faces that were staring back at them. Her eyes welled up with fresh tears but she turned away from her ex-husband and re-joined her stance next to Sam and Mercedes' mother.

More silence filled the waiting room as they all waited to hear news from the doctors. Since arriving, the only thing Fabrays had been told was that Quinn was being operated on due to internal bleeding. Puck had been forced to join the group prior to the surgery prep. As for Mercedes, her right forearm had been broken in two places and she had a multitude of stitches on her head and limbs. In addition, the doctors informed her mom that some of her ribs were bruised and they had run several tests to help determine the severity of her head injury.

"While we wait for the results, you may go see her, but do your best not to press her with questions or stress her out," the doctor instructed. "She remembers the answers to several rudimentary questions, but she can't recall what's just happened to her."

Ms. Jones picked up Mercedes' bag and ushered Sam along with her. The doctor noticed and stopped, "I'm sorry Ms. Jones, but only family is allowed in the room without the patient's consent."

Immediately, Mercedes' mom's brows came together in disgust. Sam nervously glanced down at her and instantly recognized her current expression; he knew exactly where Mercedes got it from. She had just as much sass and confidence as her mother—evident in what Ms. Jones said next. "Look, I don't know if you're blind or just _foolish_ but this young man," she looped her arm around Sam's, "is family. And if it weren't for him, Lord knows when help would have arrived. Now if you don't mind, we would like to see my daughter. _Now_."

After setting his jaw tightly, the doctor gave one comprehensive nod to Ms. Jones, and then proceeded to guide the them through the double doors. Sam ducked his head in Ms. Jones' direction and whispered, "You didn't have to do that ma'am."

Ms. Jones squeezed Sam's arm with her own and waved off his comment with her other hand. "Sam, I ain't a liar. When I say things, I mean them—you understand?" She drew herself up tall and cast him the biggest smile she could muster at that moment.

Sam couldn't help giving her an answering smile and nod. "Yes ma'am."

"Besides," she added, "I know you wanna see her. And I'm sure she'll be wantin' to see you too."

Despite his uncertainty on that last part, Sam couldn't control himself blushing.

The two followed the doctor to a wide grey door; he knocked twice and then pushed the handle open. "Mercedes, you have some family here to see you."

Upon entry to the room, Ms. Jones let go of Sam and brought herself around to Mercedes bedside. She softly spoke her daughter's name while placing a tender grip over the girl's left arm. The grasp stirred Mercedes out of the rested state she previously appeared to be in. Her neck mobility was still restricted by a brace and oxygen tubes adorned her face—from cheeks to her nose, but she blinked slowly and glanced to her left.

"Mom?" she croaked.

Her mom cast a reassuring smile, "I'm right here, Baby. And Sam's here too. Thank God you're okay."

"Sam?" Mercedes' brows furrowed as she looked curiously around the room in search of Sam. He'd been lingering near the door out with his hands shoved deep in his pockets ever since the doctors left.

His gaze flickered from the floor to Mercedes and back again. "I'm here."

Ms. Jones discreetly scrutinized Sam's hesitant demeanor and then looked back to her daughter. "I'd hug you but I don't wanna hurt you any more than you already are."

"What happened, Mom?"

Frowning now, Ms. Jones answered, "Baby, you were in a car accident."

"With Quinn." Mercedes shut her eyes, concentrating hard to recall more. The attempts stabbed sharp head pains that made her wince and clench her jaw. After slowly opening her eyes again, she parted her lips a minimal amount to ask, "Is she okay?"

Her mom gazed woefully at Sam, but looked back to her with an answer. "The doctors are tending to her now. I'm going to go call your brother and talk to doctor to see how long you're gonna be here, but I'll be right back. Can I get you anything?"

"Mm-mm," Mercedes sighed after regrettably taking in deep breath.

"Okay. I'll be right back." Ms. Jones patted Mercedes' hand lovingly and then made her way back to the door. As she opened the door, her hand gave Sam a friendly nudge on the back. Sam's feet scuffed a couple of times and when he glanced back at her, Ms. Jones cast him a small but meaningful smile.

Sam's cheeks darkened again while he quietly approached Mercedes, taking her mother's place at bedside chair. On the opposite side of the bed, standing in front of the monitors was a tray where her heart-shaped earrings sat. For a moment, Sam wondered if they'd removed them for whatever tests they had to run, but he didn't dwell on the thought too long. Instead his eyes reverted back to Mercedes. The majority of her was blanketed or clad in a hospital gown, but he saw the strap of her sling draped across her left shoulder, concealing the cast her right arm was in. An IV was injected into her left arm, allowing it limited mobility as well. Taking all of this in, Sam softly asked, "How are you feeling?"

Mercedes smiled weakly, "Terrible. It hurts to breathe, I can barely feel my right arm, and I feel like I got hit over my head."

With a faint, humorless smile Sam told her, "Well, you sort of did."

"What are you doing here Sam?"

His brows twitched together, "What do you mean?"

"How'd you know about the accident? How'd you know I was here?"

"You…you don't remember?" he asked, maintaining a low tone in his voice. His green hues caught Mercedes confused yet exhausted expression in the same moment that the doctor's warning echoed in his mind. He would never lie to Mercedes though, so rather than risking overwhelming her with a play-by-play of the events, he merely reminded her that they were on the phone together before everything happened.

Mercedes seemed to accept that and shut her eyes again. In the seconds that followed, Sam pressed his lips together and watched her take sore, shallow breaths. After almost a minute passed, he rose to his feet again and made to leave so she could rest. His actions hadn't progressed beyond standing however; Mercedes hoarse voice murmured for his attention. "Sam…it's probably unfair for me to ask this, but… please don't go."

Sam looked back and noticed her upturned left palm—open and asking to be held. He couldn't resist the silent request, and sat back down as his left hand closed over her palm. "Why's it unfair for you to ask that?" He quietly wondered.

Mercedes' chocolate brown orbs looked to him. "Because I hurt you."

Sam's gaze fell to the floor again but when he lifted his head, he feigned a small smile, "After the hell you've been through today, you think I can't tough out my rejected St. Valentine?"

Seeing right through his front, Mercedes sighed, "Sam, this accident isn't something to equate to us and you know it."

Save the beep of the monitors and Mercedes' shallow audible breaths, the room went quiet. Sam was no longer looking at her, but his hand remained secure in hers.

"You know what's funny?" Mercedes asked, drawing Sam's attention back to her. "Since you've been back…you haven't told me that you love me…"

"'Cedes, you know I—"

"Let me finish," she insisted in a tired tone. "You haven't told me that you love me…but you've shown it…in so many ways since you came back. I've told you that I love you…but I haven't shown it…not really at least."

"So what's that mean?" Absent-mindedly, Sam began circling his thumb along her wrist. Though his mouth was settled, his eyes looked anxious as he waited to hear her response but he was patient, gathering that it was difficult for Mercedes to gather the air to speak.

"Well…you know I can't tell you what that means for you…but…for me it means…I gotta walk the walk…starting now."

One sandy-colored brow arched, "Now?"

Mercedes closed her eyes, but she said, "Yeah…where's my bag?"

Sam looked around and saw that Ms. Jones had left it beside the chair. As he bent to pick it up, Mercedes told him, "Look in the bottom of it."

After digging past her black and red performance dress and the clothes she'd come to Regionals in, he closed his hand around an all-too familiar object laying at the bottom. Sam pulled it out and opened his hand to reveal the wise man he painted to depict St. Valentine. One corner of his lips rose in the lop-sided smile Mercedes loved. She opened her eyes to see his reaction and then softly she told him, "It's kind of my little lucky charm now."

"Some luck it has—look at you. No offense."

"Boy, please. I'm alive aren't I? I might look and feel bad, but I'm gonna be okay. And I bet Quinn will be too."

"So you're putting your faith in a painted wise man now?" he teased.

Mercedes rolled her eyes, "I believe that things are gonna get better from here." She squeezed his hand. "And Sam… I know it's been a while now since we last talked about us…and I still don't exactly know who I am but…I know I don't wanna wait and see how long it'll take me to find out…and I don't want to keep you pushed away…I shouldn't push away someone I love so much. And I mean it when I say that I love you."

"I know you do. You don't say those kinds of things unless you mean them." His knowledge of her made her smile but the pain dull pain on the right side of her face abruptly ended that. Sam noticed her wince, triggering a grimace on his own face. He stood up again and quietly said, "You should get some sleep, 'Cedes."

"You really do see me," she noted, throwing Sam off.

"What?"

"Remember…last summer? You made me watch _Avatar_ with you…and we talked about how they say 'I see you' to each other. Well…_you_ see me. Really well."

He was both impressed and incredulous at what she said. Of course more of him had been impressed but he didn't want to let himself get too caught up in her words, as he so often did. To give himself a defense, albeit flimsy, he chuckled softly a couple of times, "I think whatever drugs they gave you are going to your head. Get some sleep, Mercedes."

"I don't think I'll have a choice in a minute. Whatever medicine they gave me is making my eyes and head feel heavy." She managed to open them again though, "Are you gonna go after I'm sleep?"

The way she'd asked combined with the tired, distressed look on her face tugged at his heart. How could he walk away? It was no secret to him that he was terrible at resisting her. "I uhm…well Kurt and the others are here too. I bet they'd want to see you before you fall back asleep."

"The wedding…wait…oh my God, what about the wedding?" Mercedes asked.

Sam gave her hand a gentle squeeze, "Don't stress. It's been postponed. What? You think Rachel and Finn would feel right saying 'I do' with you guys here in the hospital?"

Mercedes opted out of answering that one, letting her eyes close again. "One more question, Sam."

"Yeah?"

She blew out another shallow sigh, "What are you thinking about?"

This had taken him by surprise—enough to bring him back into the seat. "Right now?"

"Yes."

With his left hand still in Mercedes', Sam pushed his through his dirty blonde locks again. "Uhm…to be honest, I really was thinking about seeing if the others could take turns coming to see you before you fall back asleep."

"Oh…"

At the same time, Sam added, "And, I was thinking about how glad I am that someone I care about…and someone I love and care about are both still here."

Once more, Mercedes' eyes opened. It hurt to smile but she couldn't help letting it last for a little bit. What she would _give_ to be able to turn her head and look at him properly right then! Instead she had to settle for her capable sideways glance. "What did you say?"

Her favorite crooked smile returned before Sam said, "I said that I care about Quinn and I'm glad she's here. I care about you too, but, I also love you Mercedes."

Almost instantly, her pulse quickened from the sound of those words; the monitor betrayed her would-have-been discreet response, but Sam just smiled a little more. "I lost my mind when the accident happened. I couldn't really relax until I got to see you with your eyes open again."

Mercedes kept her smile going as she blinked slowly. "You know…you're putting this 'show and tell' thing further out of whack."

Sam shook his head, "No, I'm the shower, rather than the teller. I'm working on telling more, remember?"

Teeth appeared in her smile now, "Yeah, yeah."

"Are you up for seeing anyone else right now, or…?"

"As long as you promise you'll come back."

She caught Sam smiling softly at her before her eyes closed. But blood rushed to her cheeks as a familiar pair of lips tenderly kissed her pair. He pulled away smiling when her heartrate reacted abnormally on the monitor. For the first time since sitting down, Sam released his hold on her hand while he told her, "If you want me to, then you know I will."


	2. Part 2

NOTES: In part 1 of this fanfic, I apologize for that error, as well as any other errors that might have appeared in part 2 of this fanfic (grammar, spelling, continuity, etc.)!  
>Finally, yes this is a Samcedes fanfic. However, I couldn't write solely about these two without appearances from other New Directions members and a few of the parents and Mr. Schue.<br>Thanks for reading this, and enjoy! I welcome feedback! And of course I do not own or claim any rights to Glee, the characters of Glee, or any of the songs/lyrics mentioned in this written piece.-

* * *

><p>Mercedes' mother returned shortly after Sam left for the waiting room. She spoke with her daughter to relay the well-wishes from Mercedes' brother, and what she had been told by the doctor. They were still waiting on the results of the tests they ran. In the meantime, with Mercedes' consent, the doctor allowed up to 3 people at a time to visit her, giving them the same warning he gave Sam and Ms. Jones. Knowing that Mercedes wouldn't be left alone, she let her daughter know that she would be running home to get her clothes to go home in. On her way out, she passed the same message on to Sam and Mr. Schue.<p>

Kurt, Finn and Rachel were the first to come see her—all 3 entering with "VISITOR" badges clipped to their wardrobe. Rachel apologized profusely until Kurt sternly said, "Okay Rachel, I think she gets it." He stood to the right side of Mercedes, delicately attempting to doll up her disheveled weave with the comb and brush he found in her bag.

"Quinn and I should've been paying attention to the road," reasoned Mercedes. She tried to avoid telling Rachel, again, that it wasn't her fault but it was clear Rachel was convinced of just the opposite.

Filled with too much guilt, the would-be bride's dark brown eyes couldn't rest on Mercedes' face at all. Finn stood tall behind her, cupping his hands over her shoulders. His mouth opened, "Um…so how long are you gonna be here?"

Mercedes looked to Finn; already she was beyond annoyed with the neck brace but for the time being she was stuck wearing it. "My mom said the doctor thinks tomorrow. They're still waiting on the test results."

"Are…are you going to be okay?" Rachel quietly asked.

Mercedes didn't know how to answer at first. Of course she wanted to know that she would be, and she wasn't about to give Rachel another chance to blame herself, but it was the pending test results that would give her a better indication. "I'm hoping so," is what she settled on saying.

"Mercedes, I really am so sor—"

"You know," Finn quietly interjected, "We should probably give someone else a chance to see Mercedes. I mean," his gaze went to his bed-ridden friend, "you look kinda tired."

While Finn rested a kind hand on Mercedes' left shoulder to say goodbye, Rachel took hold of her good hand and gave it a squeeze. "Call me when you can, okay? An-and if there's anything I can do… please tell me."

With a faint, short-lasting smile, Mercedes replied, "Thanks Rachel."

The engaged couple made their way to the door, but Finn looked back, "Kurt, you coming?"

"In a minute," Kurt said in his typically soft tone. Without further discussion, Finn and Rachel left the room and Kurt brought his attention back to Mercedes. He rested his chin on his knuckles while appraising his handy work. Using the comb and brush he had smoothed most of the frizzy appearance from the top of his best friend's head, and managed to revive some of her tousled curls.

Mercedes looked up at him, "Thanks Kurt," to which his hand made a clean swipe across the air.

"It's the least I could do. I'm just glad you're here. How's your head?"

"Kicking my butt. Remember when a bunch of us got hangovers from Rachel's party last year?"

"I try not to think about that night," he promptly stated, "but I didn't drink anything, remember?"

"I know…but I did. And thought that hangover was bad. That was _nothing_ compared to this."

_Knock, knock, knock._

Kurt turned as the door opened. Blaine poked his head in, with Tina slipping in behind him—both still clad in their formal wedding garb. The former Warbler looked to his boyfriend, "Uh, Kurt Mike's waiting down the hall to take your visitor's badge." He entered the room with Tina and quietly closed the door while offering an empathetic smile to Mercedes. "Hi Mercedes. We won't be long, I promise."

She smiled softly and raised her left hand as high as the IV would allow so she could wave to him and Tina.

Kurt gazed back at Mercedes and after promising to be by her house tomorrow with a care package, he offered his best friend a farewell and demanded she make a speedy recovery. Shortly after he left the room, Mike joined his girlfriend and Blaine in the room. They stayed for a few minutes, and then traded their badges with Brittany, Santana and Artie. Sugar, Rory and Mr. Schue were the next group to visit her that evening, followed by Burt and Carole. Sue left earlier that evening—shortly after the group had been given an update on Mercedes and Quinn's conditions. Rachel returned for a visit, bringing her dads this time, as well as a vase of carnations she'd purchased at the gift shop downstairs. The final group to come in the room was Puck, Quinn's mother Judy, and Sam—who, thanks to Ms. Jones, didn't need a visitor's badge to return to the room.

Mercedes had been fighting to stay awake ever since Sugar, Rory and Mr. Schue's visit, but it grew harder upon seeing the former Mrs. Fabray. Ever since Mercedes and her mom let Quinn move in at the end of her pregnancy two years earlier, Judy remained forever grateful to them both and became good friends with Ms. Jones. She came sweeping over to Mercedes' bedside, much like her own mother had, and gazed down at the girl with saddened eyes but a hopeful smile.

"Mercedes, sweetheart, are you alright?"

"I think I will be, thanks Ms. Judy. How's Quinn doing?"

Right away, Quinn's mother's face fell with her gaze. She swallowed back some rising emotions and quietly said, "They're still operating on her. The doctors say she's going to pull through but…" Her eyes went back to Mercedes, causing her to pause; she thought out the rest of her response carefully while unnecessarily smoothing out Mercedes' blanket. "She'll be in the hospital for a few days to recover from surgery, and I don't think she'll be right back at school after the break."

Puck, who had been standing in the corner near the door, still wore a stern expression for all that happened that evening; the creases on his face only deepened at Judy's words. Sam blinked slowly and suppressed a yawn for the sake of not wanting to appear bored. He cared deeply, but in that moment it felt as though all the anxiety and adrenaline his body cranked out earlier was finally leaving him—and then some.

Quinn's mother hadn't noticed either boys' faces however, as she watched over Mercedes. "Time will really tell us. But for now, we'll all just have to keep praying for Quinnie, and for you too, Mercedes."

Mercedes' eyes had shut again by now; she was losing her fight to stay awake which only became clearer as she barely mumbled, "Thanks Ms. Judy," back to Quinn's mom.

The blonde woman looked to Sam and then Puck and wordlessly suggested that they take their leave. Puck nodded, pushing himself off of the wall he'd been leaning against. He walked up to the foot of Mercedes' bed and muttered, "Get well soon, Mercedes." Before following the former Mrs. Fabray out, Puck looked back to see Sam sliding back into the bedside chair.

Sam used one hand to shield another forming yawn while his other hand waved his Mohawk-sporting friend off. As he closed his mouth again his eyes watered up, and it was in that repeated yawning that he knew he too would be falling asleep soon. His eyes surveyed the room to see if it held one of the fold-down beds like he and his dad used when Stevie and Stacie were born. One was spotted on the opposite side of the room but getting to it posed two problems: The first was that he would have to stand back up to get it. The other was that there wasn't enough space between the wall and Mercedes' bed for him to put it, if he were to use it. Part of him grew nervous, wondering if the elder Ms. Jones would make him go home to the Hudson-Hummel's for the night. But there really was only one way for him to find out. He quietly adjusted the position of the chair and leaned his upper body against the left side of Mercedes' bed. His heart was beating faster than usual, but only slightly and only out of concern for waking Mercedes up—who he was certain was now asleep. With his head resting near her shoulder, Sam raised his right hand and gently slipped his palm beneath hers.

Another yawn. His eyelids felt heavy. He willed them shut and thought another silent prayer for Mercedes, Quinn and their families until he fell unconscious.

Itwas a good half an hour before the door to Mercedes' dimly-lit room opened again. Her mother had returned with a duffle bag, but she was not alone. The Hudson-Hummel couple had come with her to get Sam and give him his things from the Justice of the Peace. But when all three adults saw him and Mercedes, none of them had the heart to wake Sam. Both teens appeared to be deep in their sleep, and with the ordeal from the past few hours it wasn't hard to know why. Carole looked up at her husband and then turned to Ms. Jones. She quietly asked, "Is it alright if we come get Sam in the morning?"

Mercedes' mother shook her head and whispered back, "Don't worry about it, Carole. I can drop him off tomorrow on our way home."

She hugged Burt and Carole individually and thanked them for all their support. As she let go of Burt, he held her shoulders briefly and said, "If you or Judy need anything, call us."

Carole nodded with her husband's words and added, "Anything at all. And I'm sure the boys feel the same."

They were thanked once more before heading out of the room to say goodnight to the Fabrays. Turning her back to the door, Ms. Jones looked at her daughter and Sam and regarded the two with a warm smile. After setting the duffle bag down at the foot of Mercedes' bed, she unfolded the spare bed, knelt down to say a quiet prayer, and went to bed.

* * *

><p>Early the next morning, the doctor paid the room a visit to check on Mercedes and give her an update on her test results. Before he could tell her much about herself however, Mercedes asked how Quinn was doing.<p>

"She's in the ICU recovering from the surgery, as well as some of the other injuries she sustained from the accident. Her parents are very lucky she's still here, and conscious now, but her road to recovery will be far longer than yours Miss Jones."

The news about her friend was bittersweet, but hearing that Quinn was also conscious tipped the scale on the sweet side in Mercedes' opinion. This helped her worry less as the doctor proceeded to tell her of her own results. While she was thankful he had rid her of her neck brace, it turned out that she "lucked out"—as the doctor poorly phrased it—with a concussion. Of course this had not come without dire warnings and orders. For the next week, she was not allowed to drive or stare at screens of any kind. Mercedes grimaced when he told her that included her cell phone. He warned her that she was highly likely going to be sensitive to light for the next week. "The exposure can trigger severe headaches, dizziness, nausea and vomiting—all of which will land you right back in here." In addition, he told her not to do anything that involved a great deal of concentration for the next few days, and to keep the music-listening to a minimum with low volumes.

Before being released, the doctor handed her a generic pair of sunglasses and prescribed two different medicines—one of which, she was mandated to take: a strong painkiller for her head and arm, and a muscle relaxer to try and ease the bruising along her ribcage. After being told the side effects of both, Mercedes took one of each before leaving the hospital; by the time Sam pushed her wheelchair to the rear doors of Ms. Jones' Elantra, Mercedes was barely sitting up on her own. While Ms. Jones put all their things in the front passenger seat, Sam helped Mercedes into the back of the car and lightly blushed when she fell back asleep on him.

"Samuel, that was really kind of you to stay with Mercedes," Ms. Jones noted with a glance in her rearview mirror.

Sam had looked up at her when she spoke to him but her compliment rendered him bashful; he smiled while averting his green orbs to a sleeping Mercedes. Her head lolled against his shoulder, causing Sam to chuckle once before telling Ms. Jones, "Thanks for letting me stay the night, ma'am."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized that _that_ was the first time they'd spent the night together since his return to Lima. No, they hadn't had sex yet but plenty of other escapades occurred before they broke up and he moved away. Not exactly what he had in mind, given all that had happened, but he managed to find a little bit of humor in the relatively inappropriate thought. Of course he kept that ounce of humor entirely to himself.

"I know I told Burt and Carole that I'd take you home, but…since my daughter seems to have fallen asleep again, would you might helping me get her settled at home first? After that, I can run you home."

Sam nodded, "Sure, Ms. Jones."

In a matter of minutes, Ms. Jones was pulling into the driveway beside Mercedes' slate grey Torrent. She got out and took everything inside the house while Sam tried to gently wake Mercedes up. She stirred with a small, angry moan, causing Sam to cast an amused smile at her. "'Cedes, you gotta wake up. Make it to your bed and I promise you can sleep all you want."

She groaned at him again, but reluctantly raised her head from his shoulder. Sam slipped an arm around her back and helped her out of the car. After staggering a few steps, Mercedes gained her bearings—with plenty of leaning on Sam—and dragged her feet inside the house. Next came the true challenge: conquering the staircase. Mercedes had already nodded off twice, but placed between Sam and her mom, she was kept awake and supported the entire trek up the stairs. Without being aware of it however, other side effects to the drugs were settling into her system. Less than halfway up the stairs, Mercedes found her words again. In a slurred speech, she murmured, "Sam you're so nice. You really are. And I know I _liked_ Shane, but I _love_ you. I've always loved you." She paused for a moment and then quietly sang as though drunk, "_And IIIIII… will always love you_…Remember? 'Member I sang that? I sang that in Glee Club. That was all for you, Sam Evans."

Unable to help it, Sam's face turned beet red as he tucked in and clamped down on his lips hard. He was torn between laughing at Mercedes' out-of-character confession and feeling a little uncomfortable that all of this was being said in front of her mother. Ms. Jones wore some of the embarrassment that would have been on Mercedes' face, were she hearing and seeing herself right now. She cast Sam an apologetic gaze as the two laid Mercedes down on her bed. Her mom removed her shoes and sunglasses while Sam abruptly made to turn away and close the blinds on her window. Mercedes slowly kept going with her bold, yet near-unintelligible confession, despite her mom's best efforts to talk her into going back to sleep.

Her eyes were already shut again while her head settled comfortably into her own pillows. "And I'm gonna…make it right…" mumbled Mercedes.

"Of course you are, baby," patronized her mother as she tugged the covers over her sling-bound arm. Mindful of the stitches running up the ride side of Mercedes' head, Ms. Jones pecked the girl's forehead before adding, "Get some rest now."

She quietly signaled for Sam to follow her out of the room as Mercedes breathed, "I have to…"

Sam looked back at her once more and then quietly closed the bedroom door. Out of nervous habit, he shoved his hands into the pockets of the denim pants he was now wearing. As he did this, his phone buzzed against his fingertips. He pulled it out and read a text from Kurt.

"_Coming over in 5 with goodies. Is Mercedes back at home?_"

Sam texted back, "_Ya_" and then slid his phone and hands back into his jeans. It was nice to be out of all the formalwear—he'd have to remember to thank Burt and Carole for grabbing his stuff after he ran out yesterday. But right now, he wanted to find away to break the awkward silence that was forming between himself and Ms. Jones. As he reached the stair landing, Sam parted his lips to speak but the elder woman beat him to it.

"Well…" She huffed a few amused breaths and shook her head, "Clearly my daughter's still veeery taken by you."

Sam matched her light chuckles and glanced away nervously, "Yeah."

"Are those feelings mutual?"

Again, his lips pursed together while he immediately turned his gaze to nowhere in particular—another anxious habit of his. He nodded with her in the kitchen, not meeting an all-too familiar pair of brown eyes.

This, of course, didn't escape Ms. Jones notice. "Sam, look at me sweetie."

"Sorry," he quickly apologized. "Yes ma'am, the feelings are mutual or at least I think they are."

"You're not sure how you feel?" she asked while folding her arms.

Sam knew he could talk to Ms. Jones—to an extent—about most things. She exemplified an abundance of kindness and understanding, just as much as she did her wit and sass. Anyone who knew Mercedes and spent time around her mother could see that they were two of a kind, save her mother's slightly shorter stature and more plump form. And thought he was still a bit apprehensive about her reaction, he knew she wouldn't chew him out for being truthful. "With all due respect Ms. Jones, it's not my feelings that I'm not sure of. It's Mercedes'."

She arched her brows but nodded slowly, "I see."

"Yeah. I mean I wanna believe her but I also know she's been fueled with a lot of medicine over the past day."

Ms. Jones nodded again, "And you're worried that when she isn't put out by drugs that she'll take back everything she's said to you over the past day?"

After internally questioning his transparency for a second, he answered, "Yeah…wait…are you a psychic or something, and Mercedes never told me?"

Again Ms. Jones chortled under her breath, "No but I'll keep that in mind when I retire." Again, she made Sam smile and went on, "But Sam, I think you should know two things. First, is that I think it's very adult of you to take this into consideration, rather than approaching things blindly." He gave her another closed-mouthed smile that slowly went away when she added, "And second…"

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other while listening to Ms. Jones say, "I think that, drugs or no drugs, Mercedes means everything she's said to you. Now Mercedes and I may not tell each other everything, but we share a lot. I'll respect her privacy enough not to tell you everything she's told me, but I'll tell you I've never seen her so invested in someone as much as she's been in you."

Doubt leaked across Sam's features as he immediately thought of Shane. And as though she had read his mind again, Ms. Jones commented, "Even with that boy, Shane."

It almost didn't feel right to ask, but he went ahead and did it anyway. "Did you like Mercedes being with him?"

Lowering her folded hands to her hips, she smiled, "If you're looking for a comparison Sam Evans, I won't give you that today. All I'll say is…I can see how much you two care about each other. You're a real diamond in the rough, and I'd hate to see you two give up on each other."

Sam had heard a similar—and more brief—piece of advice from his dad when he'd spoken to him after Valentine's Day, yet somehow talking to Ms. Jones and hearing her perspective made him feel better. The corner of his lips raised in a small, lop-sided smile as she stepped away from the counter and bent toward Ms. Jones to hug her. "Thanks Ms. Jones."

She hugged him back. "Anytime, Sam." When they pulled apart she said, "Now, Mercedes is going to be sleeping for a few hours at least. I need to run to the store for some things. I wanna get some flowers and whip up some food to take to Quinn and her mother. That hospital food's nothing to brag about, and if Mercedes could, I know she'd take flowers to Quinn. So, after I get a list made up, I'll go on and take you home." As she picked up a notepad and pen she bustled about the kitchen to form a list and thought aloud, "I can't imagine that chair was very comfortable last night and a hot shower and real rest could do you some good."

"Actually ma'am, um…Kurt texted me. He's on his way over here with some stuff for Mercedes. He said he'd give me a ride back if that's alright."

"Oh. Of course. Sam Evans, as long as you're important to my daughter, you and Kurt are always welcome here."

Sam nodded and found a content place out of her way to wait until Kurt showed up.

* * *

><p>Over the next few days, Mercedes had a few visits from her friends. Tina and Mike came by once with flowers, and Brittany dragged Santana along so she could drop off her homemade "Get Well Soon" card. Sam and Kurt came by the Jones home the most, to keep Mercedes company while her mom was at work. Two days after leaving the hospital, she stopped taking the muscle relaxer, due to its drunken, loose-lipped side effects. Kurt and Sam got more than their fair share of amusement from it, but after Kurt let it slip that Mercedes, "Went all Shakespearean sonnet on Sam," she ditched the bottle of pills.<p>

Since TV was out of the question, Kurt and Sam went back and forth, sharing magazines and comic books with Mercedes. Most of the time, she'd been asleep, but neither boy minded. At times, when Kurt was upstairs, telling Mercedes about the latest celebrity scandal, or what the latest fashion faux pas was that Bjork was sporting, Sam would be downstairs fixing the three of them lunch or a snack.

During one of the times that Mercedes was awake for an extensive amount of time, Sam went out to his car and grabbed his acoustic guitar from the back seats. While waiting for him to return, Mercedes asked Kurt, "Have you guys seen Quinn at all?"

"Yes," answered Kurt. "We went by the hospital yesterday with your mom before visiting hours were over. Your mom's been bringing her and her mom some food. Quinn was awake for a little bit, which reminds me that she said she's gonna call you when she's feeling more up to it."

Mercedes nodded, giving a slightly vacant smile. It was nice to hear that she was getting visits too—she needed the love and support more than anyone—but Mercedes wished she was well enough to go see Quinn for herself. Unfortunately, until she was able to handle bright lights again, she was basically confined to her bedroom and bathroom. The gloomy thoughts hadn't taken over Mercedes' thoughts for long however. Sam returned in just a couple of minutes. He brought the guitar up to Mercedes' bedroom and slipped the strap over his shoulder while taking a seat at her right side.

Sam looked to Kurt, who was perched at Mercedes' feet, and then smiled at Mercedes. "Kurt and I wanted to sing you a little something, if you're up for it."

Mercedes smiled—it was less painful to do now—and said, "Of course I am. I haven't listened to any music in days. I'm deprived!"

He chuckled and Kurt smiled brightly before saying, "And luckily you have us here to serenade you."

"But, let us know if your head starts getting to you or something," added Sam.

Still donning an excited smile, Mercedes said, "I will."

Sam positioned his fingers along the strings, quietly counted off for him and Kurt, and began strumming an upbeat melody. Kurt bobbed his head from side-to-side and looked to Mercedes to see if she recognized the song.

By the look on her face, she had heard it before, but couldn't exactly recall. It wasn't until Sam began singing that she realized what it was; her smile widened a bit as she happily listened.

"_If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the sea, I'll sail the world to find you. If you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you can't see. I'll be the light to guide you_."

Kurt drew in a breath to sing, "_Find out what we're made of, when we are called to help our friends in need_…"

"_You can count on me like 1, 2, 3—I'll be there. And I know when I need it I can count on you like 4, 3, 2, and you'll be there_…"

"'_Cause that's what friends are s'pposed to do, ah-yeah_…"

Both boys harmonized on the, "OoooOOoo"s. And through it all, Mercedes could not stop smiling. The fuzziness that the painkillers put on her mind; the itchiness of her arm cast and the annoying spider-like feeling her face stitches gave her all took a backseat to how loved she was now feeling.

Sam picked up the second verse. While he played on he leaned toward her slightly and momentarily tilted his head onto her shoulder to play into the next set of lyrics. "_If you're tossin' and you're turnin' and you just can't fall asleep. I'll sing a song beside you_." Mercedes giggled softly and touched the side of her head to his before he sang on, "_And if you ever forget how much you really mean to me, every day I will remind you_…Oh…"

He sat up while Kurt sang the intro to the chorus, "_Find out what we're made of when we are called to help our friends in need…You can count on me, like 1, 2, 3—I'll be there_…"

"_And I know when I need it I can count on you like 4, 3, 2 and you'll be there. 'Cause that's what friends are s'pposed to do ah-yeah_…"

They shared the "_Oooo_"s again, and Sam nodded to Kurt, indicating for him to take the next part as planned.

"_You'll always have my shoulder when you cry_…"

Sam sang, "_I'll never let go, never say goodbye... You know you can count on me, like 1, 2, 3—I'll be there_…"

Kurt placed a friendly hand on her leg, "_And I know when I need it I can count on you like 4, 3, 2, and you'll be there… 'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do ah-yeah_…"

Together, they concluded the remainder of the song, "_You can count on me 'cause I can count on you_…"

Mercedes shifted her gaze back and forth between the two men. "You guys, that was exactly what I needed." Flashing her pearly whites again, she sweetly said, "Thank you."

Her best friend stood up to give her a hug; she reciprocated with a one-armed hug and a peck on his cheek. Then almost automatically, she leaned towards Sam and nearly kissed him on the lips but at the last second, her lips grazed the corner of his mouth. While sitting upright again, she tucked her lips in her mouth, which did nothing for her coy smile.

On her other side, she heard Kurt click his tongue. "Oh for god's sake Mercedes, just kiss him already. You know you want to!"

"Kurt!" she feebly protested with a friendly swat of his arm.

"What?" he shrugged—his bright blue hues widened at her while he calmly challenged, "Tell me I'm lying."

Sam watched the two of them and chuckled, but his gaze eventually fell on Mercedes and stayed there. She looked to him for some help but Sam just shook his grinning face at her as though to say, "_You're on your own 'Cedes_."

"Don't worry Mercedes, I'm beyond believing in cooties so I won't squeal in disgust if you do," Kurt teased with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes before staring back at Sam who appeared to welcome it without pressuring her like Kurt was. A gentleman, as always. Just after shutting her eyes, Mercedes pressed her lips to Sam's voluptuous pair. It lasted only a second or two longer than their post "Human Nature" kiss, before Mercedes pulled away smiling. She gazed up at Sam and then looked to Kurt who was soundlessly clapping his fingers together.

"Happy?" Mercedes asked, half-jokingly.

"Not as much as you two are right now, I'm sure," he effortlessly retorted.

Still smiling, Mercedes lowered her gaze, and then brought it back to Sam. His sage hues were happily fixated on Mercedes' own buoyant face. And she soon became equally fixed on him; she let her eyes do what they had done a dozen times before, and studied his face. Her eyes helped her mind make memories of the friendly curve of his jaw line; the way his nose crinkled when he smiled wide enough, or how he would sometimes speak out of the corner of his mouth—the same side of his mouth that rose when he'd smile her favorite smile.

"I hate to interrupt this cute ogling session—and I do think you two are marvelous for each other by the way—Sam, you've still gotta drop me back off at home if you want to beat rush hour traffic."

Snapping out of her short swoon, Mercedes' forehead creased, "Beat traffic? Where are you going?"

Sam lifted his guitar strap from his shoulder, "Kentucky. I promised my parents and my siblings I'd spend half my break there and I was gonna leave today."

Out of habit, Mercedes groped for her phone, but soon remembered that her mom had turned it off and left it downstairs. Feeling a bit of defeat, she asked, "What time is it?"

"3:36, which means that in about half an hour, you're gonna hit traffic," said Kurt. He stood from the bed as he informed Sam, "I'll go get my stuff downstairs," and then bent forward to carefully hug Mercedes. "I'll see if Blaine will come by with me tomorrow."

"Okay. Thanks again for the song, Kurt," Mercedes told him before he sauntered out of the room.

While rising from the bed, Sam patted his back pocket for his keys. After locating them, he wandered around to stand on the other side of the bed and gazed down at Mercedes. "Take care while I'm gone."

"When are you coming back?" she asked.

"Sunday night. You'll see me at school on Monday."

Feeling a little ominous, she told him, "Drive safely."

"I will."

"And text me when you get there."

Sam dropped his chin with a disbelieving gaze. "I'll call," he amended.

"Oh…right…no staring at screens for me." Mercedes pouted and then cast him a fond smile while lifting her left index in a 'come hither' manner. When Sam happily obliged, she cupped her hand to his cheek and gave him a 'goodbye' kiss. Electric currents passed from his lips to hers that circuited through her entire frame until she gently pulled away smiling.

"You know, I could definitely get used to this again," Sam murmured in a low, sultry tone.

Mercedes grinned softly at him, "I bet you could."

"You can have a love fest when you get back, Sam!" Kurt called from downstairs.

Mercedes giggled, shaking her head; she didn't want to chance shouting back at him and bring on some pain from her ribcage, so she lowered her hand away from Sam's face and said, "Thank you for the song, and for coming over here to keep me company. I know it couldn't have been all that exciting with me being sleep half the time."

"Oh there were still plenty of amusing moments," argued Sam with a remindful smirk.

"Sam Evans, whatever I said while influenced by those painkillers better not leave this room." She pointed her finger at him in warning. "You tell Kurt that too."

As his lips pulled up into her favorite crooked smile, Sam drew an "X" over his chest. "Cross my heart, Cedes." He gave her one more kiss on the forehead, and then headed for the door but not without one more backwards glance at her.

She was biting on her smiling lower lip, but gave him a farewell wave before he walked out the door.

* * *

><p>The remaining days of Spring Break felt oddly similar to the previous summer. Even though she hadn't been injured then, there wasn't a day that Mercedes hadn't spoken to Sam—be it for two minutes or two hours. There were a couple of times that she heard Sam's little sister Stacie in the background, begging him to let her talk to Mercedes. Of course he couldn't resist giving into his sister and let the two girls chit-chat for a couple of minutes. And every night that Mercedes wasn't already asleep, Sam would phone her, just to tell her goodnight.<p>

Over the week that she was bed-ridden, she'd gotten used to dressing herself with one available hand. When Kurt and Blaine visited her, Kurt advised her on a week's worth of outfits that would coordinate with her navy blue sling. By the time Monday rolled around, Mercedes hoped that she would be ready to return to school. Unfortunately, Sunday night, her mom told her she had an appointment with her doctor to have her stitches removed. Her return to school would be delayed until Tuesday, but this extra day at home allowed her to work on a newly thought-up plan. And though her head and ribs were still aching frequently, she didn't want to be confined to her bed for one more entire day.

After an hour-long nap, following her early appointment Mercedes wandered downstairs, softly humming the entire way. Her mom had taken a half-day at work in order to take Mercedes to her appointment, but she flipped the television off as her daughter entered the room. "Good afternoon. How are you feeling today?"

"Fine," Mercedes said in a chipper tone. Her mother stared incredulously at her which made her backtrack, "Okay not 'fine' but better than I've been feeling." From there, she took a seat at the computer desk behind the couch where her mom was seated.

"I see," Ms. Jones said very blatantly. "Would that be because of the rest, or because of Sam?"

She turned a wide-eyed stare at her mom like a deer in headlights but quickly regained composure, "Mom, stop it."

"Mercedes, your mother was not born yesterday, child." The elder Jones woman shifted on the couch to make full eye contact with her daughter. "Now I don't have to be home all day to know that you've been spending more time with Sam lately."

When it came to her mom, Mercedes was entirely transparent and she knew it. Speaking softly, the young woman told her, "He's been really good to me ever since the accident."

"He's been good to you before the accident too."

"Yeah, but Mom you already know about that."

"Mmhm, I do. So are you gonna get back together?"

Mercedes chuckled nervously, "Why are you so interested in me and Sam?"

"Baby the day before Valentine's Day, you came home looking more miserable than the day Sam moved away. It took me forever to find out what was wrong, and up until this past week you hadn't talked about Shane or Sam…you just seemed so sad, keeping to yourself all this time."

"I know," Mercedes said in an apologetic tone. "It's been almost two months since that day. I've kept to myself because I just needed to be by myself as much as I could. I mean I've been praying a lot. And eventually I did talk to Kurt and Tina about how awful I'd been feeling these past few weeks—for hurting Shane and breaking Sam's heart. And I was sure Sam was done with me, even though Kurt and Tina kept telling me he understood why I did what I did. I'd been scared to, but I was actually gonna talk to him after Regionals. But then the accident happened."

The features on her mom's face were comprehensive as she nodded once, slowly. "What were you going to say to him?"

"Well…I already told him most of it. That I still love him and I'm still not sure of who I am when it comes to love. But I didn't want to spend forever trying to figure that out by myself."

"That's fair. Now let me tell you something, Baby. I'm glad you said that last part about not wanting to spend forever figuring things out alone…because you can't figure everything out by yourself—especially when it comes to love. Sometimes, having someone else is exactly what you need to have some clarity. They give you a new perspective, and can boost your confidence; they keep you grounded when you need it, and they just surround you with love. That's the basic beauty of any good relationship."

Mercedes gave an agreeing nod, "I think that Sam and I have that."

"Do you wanna know something, Mercedes?"

With a shrug and a toothless smile, Mercedes said, "Sure."

"I think you and Sam have that too. And if being with him is what you want, then you've got to tell him. A boy…rather, a _man_ like Sam Evans can't be expected to be around forever. You've told me how much he's done to try and win your affection since he came back to Lima. Now it's your turn to win him over."

Her mother's words resonated quickly with her, and almost instantly a light bulb went off in Mercedes' head. "Thanks Mom. I think I know how, but can Kurt come over later?"

Ms. Jones raised her brows feeling a little perplexed, "Um…sure—"

"Thanks!" Mercedes exclaimed, rising from the swivel chair to go get her phone. She glanced at the screen long enough to find him in her list of contacts and hit 'call'. When he picked up, Mercedes happily said, "Kurt, when you get out of school, I need a favor…well, two favors…I need you to print out a copy of sheet music for me, and can you ask Tina to call me ASAP?...you're the best…yes, call me when you get there so I can tell you the song and key…I promise I'll tell you more when you get here….thank youuu. I miss them all too!...okay, bye!"

* * *

><p>Returning to school turned out to be more of a headache than Mercedes anticipated; not because of the lights or the incessant buzzing of chatter in the hallways during passing period. She'd been permitted to wear her sunglasses indoors, and kept some Motrin in her purse. But the source of the pulsating pain was faulted by two things: the homework she missed in her AP courses from the previous day and her own nervousness for Glee Club that day. Kurt told her yesterday that Mr. Schue had given them all the week's assignment; everyone was to perform a solo where the lyrics literally expressed their feelings: anger, hope, gratitude, fear, love, sorrow, and so-on. Songs with cryptic metaphors and double-meanings were nixed for the week.<p>

Upon arriving to the choir room, Mercedes' nervousness raised, but she did everything she could to conceal it. While it still hurt to take too deep of a breath, she had every intention of powering through it today. This was too important to let some bruised bones keep her from doing what she wanted to do.

Brittany and Santana came in, pinky-locked and sporting their Cheerios uniforms. As glad as she was to see Brittany and Santana be so happy together, the sight of their uniforms reminded Mercedes of Quinn. She feigned a smile at her Troubletones sisters, but thought to herself that she needed to go visit Quinn soon.

"Nice ensemble, if I do say so myself," said Kurt, pulling her out of her own thoughts with his note of the outfit he'd picked out for her. It hadn't been anything fancy, but true to Mercedes' fashion, it was stylish: grey leggings, a white screen tee and an open navy blue vest to match her sling. Of course, she had insisted that her shoes and accessories coordinate with the vest's gold buttons, so there was a dash of Mercedes Jones bling in the mix.

The rest of the Glee club started trickling into the room as she and Kurt spoke quietly to each other. Artie wheeled himself to sit on Mercedes' left and welcomed her back with a hug. Soon after, Rachel and Finn entered, followed by Mike, Tina, Blaine and Sam. Mercedes knew he'd just come from swim practice—not because she'd been familiar with his schedule, but because he was donning a freshly dampened gold crop on his head. Though she hadn't told him so yet, she was proud of him for getting his Letterman's jacket back, regardless of what it took. She smiled shyly at Sam as he and Blaine walked around their chair and took a seat on the risers behind her and Kurt. Mercedes overheard the two of them talking about the NFL draft and looked to Kurt who apparently heard them too. She giggled at Kurt's un-amused face and shook her head at her best friend.

"What's so funny?" Blaine interrupted.

"Nothing," replied Mercedes, still giggling under her breath.

Mr. Schuester called the group's attention then, "Alright guys, let's get started. Now first I wanna start by welcoming Mercedes back." Everyone clapped and cheered for her return, but it settled down when Mr. Schue went on, "Also, I spoke to Quinn's mom this morning. She's really grateful for all the visits Quinn got from you guys over the break and wanted us all to know Quinn will be back at school on Friday."

No one had cheered or clapped then—not because they weren't looking forward to Quinn's return, but rather that it didn't' seem sensible to show their happiness for her when she wasn't there to be the recipient. Instead, there were comprehensive nods and smiles throughout the room.

"Alright so has anyone been working on this week's assignment yet?" asked Mr. Schuester.

"Mr. Schue, I have a number I wanna sing," Santana said while lowering her previously raised hand. "I think the message, or theme or whatever will be clear in the lyrics." She stood up from her seat next to Brittany while hailing Puck to back her up on the acoustic guitar. A couple of the jazz band members positioned themselves in front of the percussion instruments, and when Santana nodded to them, one of them patted a slow, tribal rhythm on a set of conga drums. Soon after, Puck joined in with a slow acoustic melody.

The Latin teen raised her head confidently and cast her typically stoic gaze until her eyes fell on Brittany and she cracked a smile before singing. "_My tea's gone cold, I'm wondering why I got out of bed at all. The morning rain fogged up my window, and I can't see at all. And even if I could it'll all be gray, but your picture on my wall—it reminds me that it's not so bad, it's not so bad_…"

Mercedes and the other glee girls swayed and smiled as Santana continued singing the rest of Dido's "Thank You". She could see how genuinely happy Santana was with Brittany now, and in her opinion, she'd nailed Mr. Schue's assignment.

After Santana finished her solo, the entire group clapped for her—with a "Woo!" from Artie. Mr. Schue praised her for following the assignment so well; Santana in return, cast a proud smile and took her seat beside a blushing and flattered Brittany again. As Mr. Schue looked about his club members, he asked, "Anyone else?"

A few seconds passed. No one raised their hand. The moment of truth. Mercedes' hand crept in the air.

"Mercedes?" his tone mistook her hand for a question.

She explained herself, "Kurt told me about the assignment. I wanna do my solo."

A look of concern flashed across the young teacher's face but he smiled, "Sure Mercedes. But if you start to feel lightheaded or anything, you can stop okay?"

"Don't worry Mr. Schue," she said while standing. "I got this." Whether she was convincing herself more than him, she wasn't sure. Of course the nervousness didn't appear in her voice, but she could feel her body hosting a flock of butterflies in her stomach now. Mercedes walked across the tiled floor toward the piano, and then turned her back to it. As she did this, her dark brown hues made eye contact with Tina who was already parting herself from Mike's side to aid her friend.

As Tina took a seat at the piano, Mercedes took in a breath—more as a test to see what she could handle. Her lungs expanded; her chest rose and as it did, she knew there were moments in this song where it was going to hurt to sing, but she was going to do this anyway. Mercedes gave one nod to Tina, and Tina placed her pale fingertips over a particular set of black and white keys.

Once a single chord filled the room, Mercedes was prompted to begin. Slowly, she sang, "_You're just too good to be true_…"

Another chord from Tina, "_Can't take my eyes off of you_…"

Just as the lyrics implied, Mercedes locked her gaze on Sam. Her favorite of his smiles crept across his face, making her react to it. She smirked while still singing, "_You'd be like heaven to touch. I wanna hold you so much. At long last love has arrived, and I thank God I'm alive. You're just too good to be true—can't take my eyes off of you_…" During the last bit, Finn made an impromptu rise from his seat and hastily sat himself at the drum set. With just the right timing, he joined in to back up Mercedes' number, but gave it the slightly more upbeat tempo that it deserved.

Mercedes grinned gratuitously at the quarterback and kept up with his beat. "_Pardon the way that I stare, there's nothing else to compare. The sight of you leaves me weak, there are no words left to speak. But if you feel like I feel, please let me know that it's real. You're just too good to be true—can't take my eyes off of you_..."

The chorus required a lot of power behind her voice, but she was all too prepared for the soreness on her ribcage as she belted out, "_I need you baby, and if it's quite alright I need you baby to warm a lonely night. I love you baby—trust in me when I say okay. Oh pretty baby, don't let me down I pray. Oh pretty baby, now that I found you, stay. And let me love you, oh baby let me love you, oh baby_."

Still at the piano, Tina provided back-up vocals for her as planned, but Kurt joined in from his seat as well. He looked back at Sam to catch a glimpse of his reaction to the song. The athletic blond was still smiling a semi-tooth-bearing smile while unconsciously bobbing his head to the light beat. Kurt noticed he was also blushing lightly, which made him beam a satisfactory smile as he turned his own attention back to his best friend.

Mercedes continued on with the Lauryn Hill cover, entrancing the entire club as she so often did when she sang. Midway through, they had all started clapping to Finn's drum beat, and when Mercedes finished, their syncopated beat broke into applause. While she was aware of the others in the room, she couldn't bring herself to pry her eyes from Sam just yet. He'd looked down bashfully with a swell in his heart, but brought his gaze back to her as she approached to take her seat again.

"Great job, Mercedes," complimented Mr. Schue as he stood up in front of the class again. "Two great numbers to kick off this week's assignment. It'll be great to see what the rest of you come up with. Now guys, I know Senior Skip Day is next week which means most of you probably won't be here. But that doesn't mean that Nationals shouldn't be on your mind."

Their teacher carried on about Nationals, song selections and fundraising, but Mercedes was only half-listening. Her mind was too busy wondering if Sam got all of her message through the song. Of course she wasn't going to get the chance to ask him during Glee Club, but luckily the period was going by quickly. The remaining minutes were spent practicing choreography and listing possible costume attire.

By the time the bell rang for lunch, Mercedes only had enough time to grab her purse before she was rushed out of the choir room by Kurt.

"Wait, Kurt what are you doing?" she asked urgently.

Kurt hadn't stopped until they were at their lockers, and when he did stop, he looked Mercedes dead in her eyes and said, "Okay I only have a few seconds before Sam comes trailing after you. I just wanted to say, that even though it goes without saying, you were fabulous in there and he'd be certifiably insane not to still want you back." He closed his arms carefully but lovingly around her and then let go, "Okay. Go get him! Good luck. And you _better_ fill me in during English."

With that, Kurt swiftly swept past her down the hallway, leaving Mercedes feeling both encouraged and nervous. When she was free to see in front of her again, she spotted Sam emerging from the choir room, as if on cue. Her heart did a cartwheel while her stomach filled with butterflies again. Would that feeling ever go away? Of course she sure as hell had hoped not.

Sam looked up and down the hall until he saw her—a smile returning to his face. He walked down the hallway, holding one hand to his backpack strap while weaving through the crowded hall until he was face to face with the curvaceous diva. His smile spread before he'd even said, "Hey," to her.

"Hey Sam," she said back.

They spent a few seconds just smiling and gazing at each other until Mercedes made a nervous gasp and said, "I have something for you."

Sam's brows twitched in confusion but he stared down at her while she dug inside her purse. His expression smoothed out a bit when her hand emerged with a quarter-folded piece of paper, adorned with his name in her handwriting. He let go of his backpack strap so both sets of fingers could unfold the paper. When it was a full sheet again, Sam's face became infected with a full grin.

Mercedes smiled too as she watched his jade orbs probe the gift. The night before, she put her drawing skills to the test. And while it hadn't been a picture, so much as it had been an artfully-written phrase, she made it plenty colorful. Covered in swirling blends of blues and greens, Mercedes centered her colored pencil masterpiece with bubble letters: "_oel ngati kameie_".

After Sam finished awing his Na'vi-adorned present, he lowered the paper from in front of his face and brought his attention back to Mercedes. "This is the best." He leaned in to give her a kiss, but Mercedes raised her left hand to his chest to stop him.

"Hold on," she told him.

This moment had instantly started feeling all-too familiar to Sam. But his body didn't have time to grow too anxious because Mercedes went on to say, "I have more to tell you. And ask you."

"Oh." Sam took a deep breath and righted himself again, "Okay."

She lowered her hand to her side again and asked, "You were listening to the song I sang in the choir room, right? I mean, really listening."

"Yeah, 'course."

"Then…you know I meant everything I was singing, right? I really couldn't decide on a better song that expressed that _and_ fit Mr. Schue's assignment."

As his smile threatened to return, Sam spoke out the side of his mouth a bit while he asked lowly, "So you're telling me that I'm just too good to be true you need me?"

She knew he was teasing a bit, but her response wasn't a joke. "Sam, I meant everything I was singing. I'm not gonna spend any more time beating myself up over what happened in the past. I know I hurt you with my decision to be single for a while. But being single these past two months did me a lot of good—even with the accident happening. And I realized that I don't want to be with anyone else, and I don't want to hold all this love I have in my heart. I want to be with you, and I want to share my love with you. If you'll let me."

Sam stared into her eyes as if there were fireworks exploding in the pupils. "Are you asking me out?" he finally asked, keeping his voice low.

She nodded, huffing one breathy giggle.

His heart swelled like the Grinch on Christmas morning; he thought it might burst out of his chest at that moment but he did a half-decent job of hiding that amount of joy. After taking one more glance at his new gift, Sam folded it back up, following the same creases, and slipped it into the pocket of his jacket. Now that both hands were free, he placed them on Mercedes hips to bring her close. He leaned close while maintaining a loving gaze and when their noses nearly touched, he murmured, "_oel ngati kameie."_

Mercedes shut her eyes, grinning shamelessly, and then rose on the balls of her feet to close the space between their lips.

(by the way, had I continued with part 2 of this fanfic and let Sam perform his song for the week's assignment, he would have brought his acoustic guitar to school the next day, enlisted Puck, Finn, Kurt and Artie's help with harmony and instrumental support to serenade Mercedes with Bob Marley's "Is This Love")


End file.
